Photo: User:Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Tamworth’s library lends 9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries its size
Cook Memorial Library serves Tamworth’s 2,848 residents. Last year it lent 33K books, movies and e-books and logged 14K visits.
The short version on Tamworth’s library
The library is a National Register landmark
Cook Memorial Library has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1980. Today’s library there has 6,000 square feet. The buildings ↓
Programs draw a crowd
5,450 people came to the library’s 233 programs last year: 1.9 per resident, against a typical 0.5, more than at 94% of similar-size libraries. Kids & programs ↓
Kids borrow more here than almost anywhere
Children’s books and media are 45% of print loans, and kids’ borrowing per resident is higher than at 86% of similar-size libraries. That works out to about 17 items per child in Tamworth last year. Kids & programs ↓
Tamworth is a town of borrowers
Cook Memorial Library lends 9 print items per resident, against a typical 3.8 for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people, more than 88% of similar-size libraries. What people borrow ↓
This summary is written from the numbers on this page. Numbers are the library’s own report to the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
What’s behind Tamworth’s civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Tamworth is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns, #2 of 126 in New Hampshire. All three inputs are above most U.S. towns; Tamworth’s count of community nonprofits ranks highest.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
33 community nonprofits are registered in Tamworth
11.6 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: civic groups, clubs & veterans.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (6 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
12.3%
12.3% of Tamworth’s Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.9% in the typical New Hampshire town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Tamworth’s residents live; 2022.
About 2 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Tamworth last year.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 7 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people across the U.S.
Cook Memorial Library serves 2,848 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 16 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Almost half the print loans are kids’ books
33K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 22K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.2 time last year, on average.
6,907 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
A National Register landmark since 1980
Cook Memorial Library, 93 Main Street, Tamworth.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Tamworth? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
Cook Memorial Library
Cook Memorial Library was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Jun 25, 1980. It is significant for its education and architecture at the local level. Its architecture is described as Queen Anne.
The Cook Memorial Library is the public library of Tamworth, New Hampshire, United States. It is located at 93 Main Street in the center of the town, in an 1895 Queen Anne Victorian building which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
More about the building →Other libraries in Tamworth
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $2.41 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Tamworth cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $224K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $541K worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $224K budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 998 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Tamworth ranks 3rd of 5 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moultonborough | Moultonborough Public Library fine-free | 13.9 | 48 | A |
| Sandwich | Samuel H. Wentworth Library fine-free | 11.8 | 32 | A− |
| Tamworth | Cook Memorial Library fine-free | 11.4 | 38 | A+ |
| Madison | Madison Library fine-free | 9.0 | 33 | B+ |
| Ossipee | Ossipee Public Library fine-free | 2.4 | 32 | C |
| Albany | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Tamworth
Does Tamworth have a public library?
Yes. Cook Memorial Library, 93 Main Street, serves Tamworth’s 2,848 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 38 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Cook Memorial Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Tamworth’s library?
It logged 4.8 visits and lent 11.4 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3 visits for libraries serving 2,500 to 10,000 people.
What is Tamworth’s civic life grade?
A+ Tamworth is ahead of 96% of U.S. towns on civic life, #2 of 126 in New Hampshire. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Tamworth.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. Building history: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places; photo via Wikimedia Commons. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.